This account is pending registration confirmation. Please click on the link within the confirmation email previously sent you to complete registration.Need a new registration confirmation email? Click here

Square Unveils Tools In Spanish, Looks to Hispanics For Growth

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- As the Latino population in the United States grows faster than any other demographic, Square, the popular mobile payments company, is launching a suite of products in Spanish to capture the market.

San Francisco-based Square will bring its Register offering, reports and analytics, Square Market, and the company's mobile products into the Spanish-speaking market, allowing small businesses with Latino owners to better understand their customers.

The U.S. Census Bureau noted that Hispanics launched approximately 20% of the new businesses in 2013, growing them at nearly twice the rate of the general population. Hence, Square, which is valued around $4.5 billion on the private markets, is looking to this segment to fund its next area of growth.

"Every entrepreneur and business owner should have access to tools and resources that inform their decisions and help them reach their goals," said Square executive Ricardo Reyes in a press release. "Square's powerful tools offer more than just a point of sale, they build on the experience for the business and its customers. Now Square is optimized for Latino businesses to serve their customers across the U.S."

Square, which counts Visa(V) as one of its investors, has been busy launching new products, as the mobile payments industry is ripe for one company to take ownership of it. The Jack Dorsey-led company has launched Market, an online marketplace for sellers to sell products, similar to Etsy, and eBay's(EBAY) Marketplace, as well as Square Stand, an all-in-one payments solution system for small and medium-sized businesses.

Earlier this year, Square, which has been rumored to go public following the appointment of former Goldman Sachs GS CFO David Viniar to its board, recently updated its Cash App, an app that allows users to send money to each other over email, similar to offerings from Google(GOOG) and eBay's Paypal.

Speculation around the initial public offering has cooled in recent months, as recent reports have suggested Square's finances are not ready to support the valuation private markets have put on the company. As of May 2013, Square was handling an annualized $15 billion in payment transactions, though that number has since been boosted to $20 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Based on a 2.75% flat fee, that would put Square's annual revenue at around $550 million, though much of that, perhaps as much as 80%, goes to Mastercard(MA) and Visa, who some industry analysts say would be better off buying the rest of Square, and making it part of a larger payments business.

In February, the company also announced a major deal with Whole Foods Market(WFM), putting Square Stand and Square Register in certain Whole Foods Markets stores around the country.